Kansas City Chiefs star Chris Jones is taking himself offline after he was criticized following the team’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jones, 31, has deactivated his social media accounts in the wake of the 31-28 defeat on Monday, October 6, after which the Pro Bowl defensive tackle was called out by Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid.
On the game-winning touchdown by Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Jones could be seen hardly moving as Lawrence, 26, made his way into the end zone after initially falling to the ground.
“You can’t think that the guy’s down,” Reid, 67, told reporters on Wednesday, October 8. “You can’t think that. You gotta just play the play, he knows. He’s been around this thing a long time, that’s really what it came down to.”
Jones was drafted in the second round by the Chiefs in 2016 and the three-time All Pro has spent all 10 seasons of his NFL career with the franchise.
After Monday’s game, Jones spoke to reporters and attempted to explain what happened.
“I thought multiple times we had him,” Jones said. “We just gotta finish. [We had] multiple guys there. We just gonna finish that play. It was a fluke play for him to be able to break that many tackles. I put it on us as a defense. We gotta finish. We gotta bring him down on that.”
Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, voiced his support for Jones during a radio interview on Wednesday.
“I believe in Chris Jones no matter what, man,” Mahomes, 30, told 96.5 The Fan. “He’s done so much for this team and for this organization, being a leader. And I think people don’t even understand how much of a leader he is on this team.”
Mahomes added, “But he’s a guy that’s kind of made us go throughout my career, and I know in big moments he’s gonna make big plays. And so people always look back and see stuff after losses and stuff like that, and they judge that stuff. But I judge the guy, the character he brings into the building every single day.”
It’s been a rocky and sloppy start to the season for the Chiefs, who find themselves at 2-3 and sputtering on both sides of the ball.
“We have the guys and we’ve executed at certain points in games and looked really good, and then we crush ourselves with penalties and mistakes and interceptions and fumbles or whatever that is,” Mahomes said after Monday night’s loss to Jacksonville. “We’ve kinda done that to ourselves all season long. It’s kinda been one guy here or there. In this league, it’s so close that those [moments] change games. We’ve got to be better.”
He added, “We’ve lost too many games already. We’ve got to find a way to be better as a team, come together and play better throughout the rest of the season.”
The Chiefs return to action on Sunday, October 12, when they welcome the Detroit Lions to Arrowhead Stadium.
